Introduction
Walt Whitman is a free verse innovator and reformer of American poetry, whose primary ideas are people’s closeness to nature and kinship of a person with all people and all phenomena of the world. Moreover, he gained fame as the first nationwide poet in the United States since an industrial theme, meaningful for an average American citizen, occupies a central niche in Whitman’s work. One of the magnificent instances, which concerns ordinary working life familiar almost to every American, is I Hear America Singing. This paper aims to examine how tone reveals the theme of unity, freedom, and dignity in American workers’ songs in the poem I Hear America Singing by Walt Whitman.
Theme
I Hear America Singing displays an idealized vision of the American working class’s life. The plot smoothly shifts from the urban atmosphere to the country, from the coast to the sea, acquainting readers with various occupations, such as masons, farmers, mechanics, woodcutters, shoemakers, carpenters, and housewives. Moving through these professions, the poet gradually determines their main tasks; for example, “The carpenter singing his as he measures his plank or beam,” while the girl washes and sews (Whitman, 1867). Thus, Whitman depicts the picture of America as a place where every person can find fulfillment, dignity, and delight in honest labor and its outcomes. This idea was close to Whitman since he was born in a house builder’s poor family with nine children and had to change many professions, including messenger, teacher, reporter, and journalist (“Walt Whitman,” n.d.). Hence, in this poem, emphasizing the merit of work, Whitman demonstrates that many specific songs are combined to shape the single proud sound of America, acknowledging the personal value of each worker.
Tone
The tone of the poem is cheerful, optimistic, upbeat because it elevates the average American worker by enhancing their characters with such abstract expressions as “blithe,” “robust,” “melodious,” “friendly,” and “strong.” These adjectives are generally joyful, pleasant, and strong, suggesting the strength and delight of their songs. Besides, they are without any pretentiousness, simple and understandable for every American commoner irrespective of gender, not for aristocrats or the bourgeoisie. This accent acquires a national significance since, predominantly, a laborer leaves unnoticed in classic poetry chanting about brave heroes, soldiers, and lords. Furthermore, these descriptors indicate Whitman’s genuine and deep love for the nation and pencil an honest, industrious, flourishing, promising American identity. It is also worth noting that the poet applies the present tense to highlight his idea that the United States is a rising, hopeful, energetic country. It seems like Walt wanted his verse to be declaimed loudly and instill fervent hope, inspiration, self-respect, and perseverance in his comrades.
Nevertheless, although the poem celebrates workers’ individualism and self-sufficiency through “varied carols,” thereby deftly evading from praising the elite class, it highlights the importance of their unity. That is, no matter how unique each of these workmen may be, the author argues that only what they all sing makes America what it is, in the full sense of the term. This idea slips in the first line of the poem, namely, “I hear America singing,” further, as if clarifying, “the varied carols I hear” (Whitman, 1867). In addition, from line nine, where “Each singing what belongs to him or her and none else,” the poet consolidates them into an all-in-one chorus singing “their strong melodious songs” (Whitman, 1867). Inline ten, the words “friendly,” “party,” and “fellows” point to fraternity and comradeship. Finally, the shared feature of all laborers in the verse is singing while working. Whitman deliberately uses the conjunction “as” several times, precisely, in the third, fourth, and sixth lines, to focus readers’ attention to that the workers sing and work simultaneously.
Lastly, Whitman uses a set of sounds to stress the overall tone of the poem. Specifically, the repetition of the sound [ing] (“singing,” “sewing,” “washing,” “morning”) creates a bright, amiable, and exultant mood and underpins a merry and free atmosphere in listeners’ imagination (Yoneyama, 2002). The alliteration of the [d], [b], and [p] sounds in second, third, fifth, tenth, and eleventh lines (for instance, “be blithe,” “carpenter,” “plank,” and “beam”) establishes the distinct beat throughout the poem (Yoneyama, 2002). Additionally, in the tenth and eleventh lines, the author inserts words with vowel sound [o], including “belongs,” “fellows,” “robust,” “melodious,” to convey youthful, up-and-coming spirit. Therefore, Whitman uses various sounds to produce a subconscious feeling of exaltation, joy, youth, and strength.
In conclusion, the paper has explained how tone reveals the theme of unity, freedom, and dignity in American workers’ songs in the poem I Hear America Singing by Walt Whitman. The theme is primarily related to an idealized vision of the American working class’s life, represented in the poem as strong, sound, hardworking, and hopeful. The verse’s tone is cheerful, optimistic, upbeat, elevating the American commoners by strengthening their characters with such abstract adjectives as “blithe,” “robust,” “melodious,” “friendly,” and “strong.” In addition, the tone highlights the importance of workers’ unity, which is especially revealed in the first and last three lines of the verse, thereby framing this principal idea. Finally, the variety of sounds, such as [ing], [d], [b], [p], and [o] stress the overall tone of the poem.
References
Whitman, W. (1867). I Hear America Singing. The Academy of American Poets. Web.
Walt Whitman (n.d.). The Academy of American Poets. Web.
Yoneyama, M. (2002). Whitman’s “America”: An explication of “I Hear America Singing.” 外国文学, (51), 129-135.